HCL Infosystems Limited, India’s premier information enabler and country’s leading ICT system integrator and distribution company today announced its retail initiative – HCL Digilife stores – having received the prestigious recognition of The Most Admired Retailer of the Year in ‘Consumer Durables and Electronics’ category at the 4th IMAGES Retail Awards 2007. On behalf of HCL Infosystems, Mr. Vivek Seigell, country manager, HCL Infosytems received the honour at a glittering awards ceremony held in Mumbai. The one-year old HCL Digilife chain outclassed veterans in consumer durables and electronics retail, including LG, Samsung, Nokia, Croma and Mobile Next, to win the prestigious award.

Acclaimed as the Oscars of the Indian Retailing World, the 4th IMAGES Retail Awards recognized HCL Digilife stores “for having set up 38 premium outlets in 32 cities in a record time frame of 11 months” and a further 60 plus outlets in the pipeline. The awards also acclaimed HCL Digilife for being one of its kind store wherein customers can not only see the best of international brands – including HCL, Apple, Canon, Toshiba, Casio and lot others – but also can experience how different products can be seamlessly converged together to create a desired impact. Bringing alive a true convergence era, HCL Digilife stores creates complete experience zones for categories encompassing everything from mobile communication to digital entertainment to connectivity / content availability at broadband speeds and various other gizmos.

Mr. Rajendra Kumar, Executive Vice President, HCL Infosystems Limited, said: “Receiving the prestigious IMAGES Retail Award is a matter of pride for everyone at HCL Infosystems. Our extensive nationwide retail network is a proof of our commitment to closely engage with our customers to be able to understand and meet their technology needs better. This commitment is also reflected in HCL Digilife stores, which are unique in showcasing true digital convergence and have thus emerged as India’s preferred one-stop stores for digital lifestyle products.”

HCL Digilife stores house a comprehensive range of world class digital lifestyle and entertainment products ranging from PCs and notebooks, digital cameras and music players, mobile phones, gaming consoles and office automation devices, with the assurance of HCLs Best Assured service and support. Bringing alive a true convergence era, HCL Digilife stores are more than just retailing; they are about offering a unique shopping ambience to customers through multiple experience zones that allows a customer to actually feel, touch and experience the product before the purchase.

“When we pioneered the concept of IT retail with the launch of first HCL store in 1995, we did not anticipate the huge response it would get from consumers. In just over a decade, we have been able to ramp up the number of HCL stores to over 1000 countrywide, including 38 HCL Digilife stores,” Mr. Kumar added.

The Images Retail Awards follows strict international benchmarks in deciding the top honours with IRIS as knowledge partner and global consulting firm AT Kearney as the Process Approver. The selection process involved self-nominations as well as a countrywide poll to short-list the nominees. Over 11,000 consumers and some 1000 professionals voted for their most admired retailers across formats & categories. The 4th Images Retail Awards saw a congregation of the who’s who of India’s retail industry. With Shekhar Suman emceeing the event and the glam quotient lent by the likes of Pooja Bhatt, Zeenat Aman, Mahesh Bhatt and Anupam Kher, it was truly an evening to remember.

About HCL Infosystems

HCL Infosystems Ltd, with annual revenue of US$ 2.7 Bn (Rs.11,855 crores) is India’s premier information enabling and ICT System Integration company offering a wide spectrum of ICT products that includes Computing, Storage, Networking, Security, Telecom, Imaging and Retail. HCL is a one-stop-shop for all the ICT requirements of an organization.

HCL has India’s largest distribution and retail network, taking to market a range of Digital Lifestyle products in partnership with leading global ICT brands, including Nokia, Apple, Casio, Kodak, Toshiba, Bull, Ericsson, Cisco, Microsoft, Konica Minolta and many more.

HCL today has India’s largest vertically integrated computer manufacturing facility with over three decades of electronic manufacturing experience HCL desktops is the largest selling brand into the enterprise space.

With India’s largest ICT services network that reaches to every corner of India, HCL’s award winning Support Services makes it the preferred choice of enterprise and consumers alike. For more information please visit us at www.hclinfosystems.in

About HCL Enterprise

HCL Enterprise is a leading global technology and IT enterprise with annual revenues of US $4.1 Bn (Rs. 17,889 crores). The HCL Enterprise comprises two companies listed in India – HCL Technologies & HCL Infosystems. The 3-decade-old enterprise, founded in 1976, is India’s original IT garage start-up. Its range of offerings span Product Engineering, Technology and Application Services, BPO, Infrastructure Services, IT Hardware, Systems Integration, and distribution of ICT products. The HCL team comprises over 47,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, who operate from 17 countries including 360 points of presence in India. HCL has global partnerships with several leading Fortune 1000 firms, including leading IT and Technology firms. For more information please visit www.hcl.in